Snou
the grand master of all the things bad!
Ok, in the last month things have changed quite a bit, and I feel like these VR might need a serious update due to how the metagame has shifted.
The first Pokémon I'd like to focus on is Vileplume.
Vileplume is actually one of those mons that fulfills so many roles and utilities in a single slot. Its good typing allows it to check a good amount of pokémon in the tier and with Vanilluxe gone it can now shine even more. It's one of the few mons in the tier that can safely switchin on every Heliolisk set, punishing the Passimian-Heliolisk volturn core. It offers an amazing utility with both its ability Effect Spore and Sleep Powder. It can turn into a good fat offensive mon with its access to Growth (even Z Growth) and even without it, its offensive stats are far from let anyone setup on it. Vileplume checks Comfey, which is another mon that many builds struggle with, but still provides defensive support against bulky waters, even dealing with the omnipresent Slowbros. It kinda checks alolan Exeggutor, humiliates Sceptile and any other Grass type (bar setupping Decidueyes and band Dhelmises). Its access to Moonblast allows scrafty-weak teams to have their answer, and with Strenght Sap, even pivoting Incineroars are not more than another mon to check. Its poisonium z set allows it to istantly nuke some annoying stuff, such as Xatus or even offensive incineroars.
Given those points, I'd move it at least to an A+ rank.
It's not a secret that Sceptile has been struggling recently. With both Vileplume, Weezing, Golbat but even Garbodor being everywhere, Sceptile's ability to break the most common cores of the tier is now nothing more than an old memory. With its grass-fighting-ice coverage and its access to a boosting move, Sceptile used to work as both a good breaker (sometimes even 6-0ing teams) and an amazing cleaner. Now that things have changed, Sceptile finds itself surrounded by poison types. It's still a good pick, ofc, but it needs more support, and this leads me the conclusion that it has to drop to an A- Rank.
Xatu has always been one of those mons that should be included in a A+ Ban list, because I felt like it's better than its A+ mates, but I was never totally sure it deserved and S rank. But in this new phase of the metagame, Xatu has proven to be one of the most prominent pokémon in the tier, and influenced the way people build their teams, sometimes even relying on Z moves in order to get rid of it (Electrium Weezing, Waterium Seismi, Rockium Torterra, Poisonium Garbodor). Now that Vanilluxe isn't in the tier anymore, Xatu is one of the most reliable ways to get rid of hazards and keep them away from the field. Not even Sneasel is stopping it from being this good, especially because Sneasel has surely seen better days. Its abilities to spam Toxic on every possible switchin, scout choiced moves with protect, checking Passimian, punish volturners with Rocky Helmet and deal some solid damage with Night Shade, are imo more than enough to fly it to the S Rank.
The first Pokémon I'd like to focus on is Vileplume.
Vileplume is actually one of those mons that fulfills so many roles and utilities in a single slot. Its good typing allows it to check a good amount of pokémon in the tier and with Vanilluxe gone it can now shine even more. It's one of the few mons in the tier that can safely switchin on every Heliolisk set, punishing the Passimian-Heliolisk volturn core. It offers an amazing utility with both its ability Effect Spore and Sleep Powder. It can turn into a good fat offensive mon with its access to Growth (even Z Growth) and even without it, its offensive stats are far from let anyone setup on it. Vileplume checks Comfey, which is another mon that many builds struggle with, but still provides defensive support against bulky waters, even dealing with the omnipresent Slowbros. It kinda checks alolan Exeggutor, humiliates Sceptile and any other Grass type (bar setupping Decidueyes and band Dhelmises). Its access to Moonblast allows scrafty-weak teams to have their answer, and with Strenght Sap, even pivoting Incineroars are not more than another mon to check. Its poisonium z set allows it to istantly nuke some annoying stuff, such as Xatus or even offensive incineroars.
Given those points, I'd move it at least to an A+ rank.
It's not a secret that Sceptile has been struggling recently. With both Vileplume, Weezing, Golbat but even Garbodor being everywhere, Sceptile's ability to break the most common cores of the tier is now nothing more than an old memory. With its grass-fighting-ice coverage and its access to a boosting move, Sceptile used to work as both a good breaker (sometimes even 6-0ing teams) and an amazing cleaner. Now that things have changed, Sceptile finds itself surrounded by poison types. It's still a good pick, ofc, but it needs more support, and this leads me the conclusion that it has to drop to an A- Rank.
Xatu has always been one of those mons that should be included in a A+ Ban list, because I felt like it's better than its A+ mates, but I was never totally sure it deserved and S rank. But in this new phase of the metagame, Xatu has proven to be one of the most prominent pokémon in the tier, and influenced the way people build their teams, sometimes even relying on Z moves in order to get rid of it (Electrium Weezing, Waterium Seismi, Rockium Torterra, Poisonium Garbodor). Now that Vanilluxe isn't in the tier anymore, Xatu is one of the most reliable ways to get rid of hazards and keep them away from the field. Not even Sneasel is stopping it from being this good, especially because Sneasel has surely seen better days. Its abilities to spam Toxic on every possible switchin, scout choiced moves with protect, checking Passimian, punish volturners with Rocky Helmet and deal some solid damage with Night Shade, are imo more than enough to fly it to the S Rank.
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